The US 51/US 60/US 62 bridge at Wickliffe, the US 45 bridge at Paducah, and the KY 56 bridge in Union County will all received new solar powered river navigation lights: USATODAY.com: Kentucky (July 9, 2004)

After initially declining to study possible routes for I-66 through southern Illinois, it seems that Illinois and Missouri residents are now hoping to have the route built between I-24 and a new bridge over the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau.

Kentucky is in the process of a feasibility study to determine the best route for I-66 between Paducah and the Mississippi River near Wickliffe.

The Illinois Department of Transportation has reported a positive response to the proposed Interstate 66. Originally, Illinois had shied away from building part of Interstate 66 in Illinois. Building I-66 in Illinois would mean that Kentucky would not get a crossing over the Mississippi River in Ballard County.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet will be holding a public meeting to discuss the proposed Interstate 66 in western Kentucky from 5pm to 7pm at Ballard Memorial High School, 3561 Paducah Rd., La Center, KY.

Three possible routes for I-66 in Ballard County and McCracken County were revealed at a meeting in LaCenter on Tuesday:

One route begins at Old Mayfield Road and I-24 in McCracken County and passes through the southern park of McCracken and Ballard Counties before crossing the Mississippi River at Wickliffe.

Another route generally follows US 62 and KY 286 from Paducah to a new Mississippi River crossing at Wickliffe.

A third route would follow I-24 into Illinois and construct a new route to Cape Girardeau, MO. Illinois officials are not participating in the study because of issues with building a route through the Shawnee National Forest.

The engineering firm of Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas is conducting the study along with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Another meeting is expected to be held later this year.

The Glasgow Daily Times reports that I-66 public meeting in Warren County and Edmonson County were well attended. They report that the engineering firm of Bernard, Lochmueller and Associates, Inc. is working with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to provide alternatives for routes the proposed I-66 between the Louie B. Nunn Cumberland Parkway and the William H. Natcher Parkway. Parties interested in viewing information from the public meetings should contact Keirsten Jaggers or Jeff Moore at the KYTC office in Bowling Green. The phone number is (270) 746-7898.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet will be holding a public meeting on Aug. 20 to discuss the I-66 project in Ballard and McCracken Counties. The meeting will be held from 5pm to 7pm at Ballard Memorial High School.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Division of Professional Services has posted several procurement bulletins. Even if you aren't a contractor, these bulletins are useful for learning about upcoming road projects. Recent bulletins include:

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and the Missouri Department of Transportation have begun a study to choose a route for I-66 to cross the Mississippi River. A public meeting on the issue has been scheduled for Map 14, 2002. The KYTC has posted a map of the study area.

The public open house will be held at the Information Age Park Resource Center, Great Center in Paducah from 4:00pm to 7:00pm on May 14. A meeting will be held in Sikeston, Missouri on May 13 at the Missouri DOT District Office. More materials for the public meetings can be found here.

This article from Paducah's NewsChannel 6 has additional information about the proposed I-66.

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